1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an extendable personal dive flag to be utilized by scuba divers, skin divers, or snorkelers to enable them to signal to individuals on the water's surface that they are approaching the water's surface, thereby signalling their presence in the water before they surface.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is a general requirement that divers utilize diver down flags in the area of their dive so as to alert boaters or other vehicle users of their presence beneath the surface. Traditionally, the dive flags are extended from the boat of the diver or are placed on buoys which are allowed to float in the area of the dive. With many active divers, however, placing the stationary dive flags is not effective because after extended swimming they may surface in a location far from their original dive sight. A primary reason for this is that divers are generally guided by what they see underwater and it is difficult to keep track of their original dive location when exploring, doing jobs, or otherwise moving around beneath the surface of the water. For these reasons, it would be highly beneficial to provide a personal dive flag which an individual diver can carry with them and utilize to signal their particular location of surfacing.
There are various types of independently floating diver buoys, such as those disclosed in the patents to Mcintyre, U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,606, Handelman, U.S. Pat. No. 3,760,441, and Galbraith, U.S. Pat. No. 5,179,907, which can be broken down into a number of smaller pieces or otherwise collapsed. These buoys, however, which are adapted to be placed in the water so as to float in the area of a dive during the entire dive, are substantially large and could not be carried under water by an individual both due to their size and the inclusion of flotation means whose purpose is to maintain the buoy on the water's surface. Further, and most importantly, when putting together the buoys, a lengthy process of interconnecting segments and attaching pieces must usually be employed, thereby making it a lengthy and arduous process. In addition to the larger dive buoys which are adapted to be deployed in the general area of the dive, there are some devices adapted to be utilized by the individual diver. Such devices include the safety floats recited in the patents to Conn, U.S. Pat. No. 3,105,459 and Weck, U.S. Pat. No. 183,521. Particularly, the safety float of Conn is adapted to be carried by the user and released, preferably on a rope, when the diver is ready to surface, and the float of Weck trails, on a line, behind the diver during the entire dive. Unfortunately, due to various currents and the like, the location of the safety flag may not always be precise. Also, deployment is not facilitated in situations when a diver makes a quick decision to surface because the diver must wait for the buoy to float to the surface by itself while the tie line unwraps.
In addition to those devices adapted specifically for use by divers, other individual signalling flags have been utilized. Such signalling devices include the patents to Precourt, U.S. Pat. No. 3,775,887 and Coffey, U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,369. Both of these devices, however, require manual extension and are not adapted to be sufficiently elongate to enable a diver to signal through the surface of the water before arriving at the water's surface. Particularly, skin divers or snorkelers find themselves returning to the surface at somewhat frequent rates, and often do not approach the surface until they have used up all of their air. For such skin divers and snorkelers, it would be impractical to have a signalling device which they must manually extend, and/or put together, thereby consuming valuable time beneath the surface of the water. Further, many divers collect items such as shells and the like from beneath the surface of the water, or otherwise carry varying implements and tools to be utilized under water. As a result of the numerous tools or items they will carry back to the surface, it would be highly difficult for a diver who at most has one free hand to pause before arriving at the surface of the water, pull out the signalling flag, and manually extend it every time they wish to surface.
For the reasons previously recited, it would be highly beneficial to provide a personal dive flag which can be easily and conveniently carried by a diver and can be quickly and easily extended by a diver when needed. Further, such a flag should be sufficiently elongate to enable the diver to signal above the water's surface even before they are at the water's surface and should be independently carryable so that a diver is not forced to remain within a specific dive area defined by surface buoys. The device of the present invention is such an apparatus which can be used simply and effectively by any diver so as to provide substantially increased safety in all dive situations.